"Peggie Hall" wrote in message
...
They bought out all their "bricks and
mortar" competition, but as online chandleries continue to poliferate, I
believe their perceived monopolistic attitude has already begun to bite
them in the @$$...I expect them to be in chapter 11 within another 5
years. I THINK they'll survive it, but only by coming marine
"convenience stores"...on every corner, but only stocking those few
items people typically need right now, and therefore have no choice but
to pay list+50% for.

Here in Beaufort, we have a WM Express which just about that. I was
disappointed with the selection of stock. It seems that they weren't even on
a par with the fishing and boating gear in the sporting goods section at out
local Wal-Mart.

Leanne

In article , Leanne wrote:

"Peggie Hall" wrote in message
t...
They bought out all their "bricks and
mortar" competition, but as online chandleries continue to poliferate, I
believe their perceived monopolistic attitude has already begun to bite
them in the @$$...I expect them to be in chapter 11 within another 5
years. I THINK they'll survive it, but only by coming marine
"convenience stores"...on every corner, but only stocking those few
items people typically need right now, and therefore have no choice but
to pay list+50% for.

Here in Beaufort, we have a WM Express which just about that. I was
disappointed with the selection of stock. It seems that they weren't even on
a par with the fishing and boating gear in the sporting goods section at out
local Wal-Mart.

Interesting... when I owned my own boat a while ago, I signed up for
some part time work at the local WM, so that I could get the employee
discount for my project.

It was an interesting experience. There were some people who worked
there who had a vast amount of experience, others were strictly retail
clerks with no experience other than ringing up stuff. I don't claim
to have vast experience, but I think 30+ years of sailing counts for
something. :-)

I found it to be a depressing place to work. The "managers" were very,
very concerned that I was interested in stealing their jobs (masters
degree, etc.). I wasn't at all. I was only there for the discount and
would have worked for zero $ if they had given me the option. I tried
hard to explain that to them, since their unease was obvious. It
didn't help mostly. The store manager was not much better. He was only
interested in getting the registers working continuously, and while
there's nothing wrong with that, he really didn't care about the
customer beyond them buying something. Actually, he was quite savvy
about that, constantly reminding us to not discount customers who
looked poor. (My experience was that these guys, mostly asian, would
walk in and buy several outboards in one pop in cash, and they weren't
even concerned about a discount through their advantage or port supply
cards.)

So, I, thinking that I could possibly help customers make some good
choices about what they were looking for, would sometimes spend a few
minutes talking to them about such things as anchoring techique,
equipment to buy, merits of this item over that. Man, did I get in
trouble. Apparently, I didn't always recommend the most expensive
item, and had the temerity to actually talk to them, when I was
supposed to immediately hand them off to a more "senior"
person... e.g., someone with more retail experience. :-)

Well, I got the parts I needed, then I quit. But, I do know a couple
of people who've stuck it out. They had bigger projects. :-)

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
In article , Leanne
wrote:

snip, snip

It was an interesting experience. There were some people who worked
there who had a vast amount of experience, others were strictly retail
clerks with no experience other than ringing up stuff. I don't claim
to have vast experience, but I think 30+ years of sailing counts for
something. :-)


At our local store most of the sales people are part-timers, either
semi-retired boaters or students. I think the only full time person is the
store manager. Not enough business, especially in winter, to have more full
time staff.
I think the level of service and expertise shown by the staff must vary a
lot from location to location and I don't really think its entirely fair to
complain about this. You have to assume they hire the best qualified local
people that apply for the job. Same thing for the store manager's attitude
toward customers.
My local independent chandler has some dim bulbs working for him and some
very helpful guys. It pays to get to know whom you need to speak to so I
wouldn't necessarily make a final judgement based on 1 visit.

"Gordon Wedman" wrote in message
news:O5Rzf.78821$m05.78051@clgrps12...

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
In article , Leanne
wrote:

snip, snip

It was an interesting experience. There were some people who worked
there who had a vast amount of experience, others were strictly retail
clerks with no experience other than ringing up stuff. I don't claim
to have vast experience, but I think 30+ years of sailing counts for
something. :-)


At our local store most of the sales people are part-timers, either
semi-retired boaters or students. I think the only full time person is the
store manager. Not enough business, especially in winter, to have more
full time staff.
I think the level of service and expertise shown by the staff must vary a
lot from location to location and I don't really think its entirely fair
to complain about this. You have to assume they hire the best qualified
local people that apply for the job. Same thing for the store manager's
attitude toward customers.
My local independent chandler has some dim bulbs working for him and some
very helpful guys. It pays to get to know whom you need to speak to so I
wouldn't necessarily make a final judgement based on 1 visit.

Yeah, you're right of course. I've had good experiences in other stores,
notably the Sausalito store.

I would not go quite that far about hiring the best local people. What they
tend to do is hire people to do the unloading, which means early morning
hours typically. Then, after several weeks, they graduate to working in the
store during the day. Some of the assistant managers came up this way, which
might not be a bad things, but some of them are not that bright.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Interesting... when I owned my own boat a while ago, I signed up for
some part time work at the local WM, so that I could get the employee
discount for my project.


So, how much is the employee discount? What sort of bennies, if any ?

L8R

Skip, rehabbing to be able to continue to refit until my shoulder's finished
and we leave

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

"Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach at gmail dotcom wrote in message
...
Interesting... when I owned my own boat a while ago, I signed up for
some part time work at the local WM, so that I could get the employee
discount for my project.


So, how much is the employee discount? What sort of bennies, if any ?

L8R

Skip, rehabbing to be able to continue to refit until my shoulder's
finished and we leave

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her

It's been a while now, but it was significant. Other than that, there were
no benefits.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:58:44 -0500, "Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach at
gmail dotcom wrote:

So, how much is the employee discount? What sort of bennies, if any ?

I've been told that it's about 35%, and that even the part timers get
decent medical coverage. One of my former neighbors told me that's
the main reason he works there.

I believe the 35% is about right. I don't know about the medical coverage,
since I didn't need it and didn't inquire.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:58:44 -0500, "Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach at
gmail dotcom wrote:

So, how much is the employee discount? What sort of bennies, if any ?

I've been told that it's about 35%, and that even the part timers get
decent medical coverage. One of my former neighbors told me that's
the main reason he works there.

I'm one of those part time West Marine employees. I work almost entirely
for the discount (certainly not the wages!), although my wife says I
have to quit before we go broke. I am outfitting a trawler for the Great
Loop and need the price break. Some of the discounts are around 50%.
Most are about 33%, but electronics are poor, as there is little profit
in them.

I think most of the associates are people like me, although most work
more than I do. Their advantage is that many of us really do know what
we are selling. If you walk into a store and ask if anyone has ever
taken a boat to _____ and how did they outfit it, someone will tell you
to talk to ____, who will almost always not be working that day. The
disadvantage is that we are not all really as devoted to the company as
we are to our boats and working part-time sometimes keeps us out of
practice with their awful computer system.

It's a fairly decent company to work for with a 401k that they
contribute to, health and dental insurance for those who work more than
20 hours a week. flexible hours and, most importantly, THE DISCOOUNT.
It's boring up here in the cold weather and very hectic in the warm.

Our catalogue is a wealth of information and worth the cost of a
membership just for the information. Renew now before the price goes up.

Prices are sometimes higher than the competition, but we match theirs.
We also take back anything you are unhappy with.

There are certainly things I would do differently if I ran the company,
(such as their advertising, for example) but I don't, and don't want to,
either.

Capt. Jeff

"Tamaroak" wrote in message
...
I'm one of those part time West Marine employees. I work almost entirely
for the discount (certainly not the wages!), although my wife says I have
to quit before we go broke. I am outfitting a trawler for the Great Loop
and need the price break. Some of the discounts are around 50%. Most are
about 33%, but electronics are poor, as there is little profit in them.

I think most of the associates are people like me, although most work more
than I do. Their advantage is that many of us really do know what we are
selling. If you walk into a store and ask if anyone has ever taken a boat
to _____ and how did they outfit it, someone will tell you to talk to
____, who will almost always not be working that day. The disadvantage is
that we are not all really as devoted to the company as we are to our
boats and working part-time sometimes keeps us out of practice with their
awful computer system.

It's a fairly decent company to work for with a 401k that they contribute
to, health and dental insurance for those who work more than 20 hours a
week. flexible hours and, most importantly, THE DISCOOUNT. It's boring up
here in the cold weather and very hectic in the warm.

Our catalogue is a wealth of information and worth the cost of a
membership just for the information. Renew now before the price goes up.

Prices are sometimes higher than the competition, but we match theirs. We
also take back anything you are unhappy with.

There are certainly things I would do differently if I ran the company,
(such as their advertising, for example) but I don't, and don't want to,
either.

Capt. Jeff

Maybe things are different from where you hail... it's all over the map down
here with who works there. A large percentage of employees are strictly
retain. They have experience only wrt WM stuff. Of course, there are people
who are quite knowledgeable as you suggest (and as you are).

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com